frankfurt_schoolgirl [she/her]

About Ansible, it’s not declarative in the same way Nix is. The way it actually works is it executes little Python programs based on your config. But if you stick to the high level modules, it has a declarative feel. Also, the Python aspect is useful because you can include bits of Python to manage things like generating complicated config files.

I haven’t checked out guix home, but it looks interesting. I have been doing some Lisp recently, so maybe the time is coming.

rootless containers

Are you managing dotfiles in rootless containers? IMO you shouldn’t install nix in a container. If you want to customize your container, run nix outside of the container and tell home manager to apply itself to the container’s file system (home-manager build will put the result into a result directory, which you can copy). Or, you could just mount your host ~/.config on the container maybe.

Ansible

Ansible is a big project, but at the end of the day it’s just a Python package. If you already have Python installed, it’s not really adding that much.

Also obligatory advice for anyone new to Nix: use flakes. Flakes are good and right. It sucks that Nix is in a confusing transition process to flakes, but if you just adopt them completely from the start it makes everything easier. Your home manager config can live in a single flake somewhere that you find convenient, and you can apply it from there.

I would use nix home manager for this. Home manager has basically three separate layers. The ability to install nix packages for a user, the ability to generate config files, and special modules that combine these things things as an easy way to manage popular programs (like vim or tmux or something). You could probably just stick to the config file generation (see the xdg.configFile module).

A big downside is that you will have to install the basic nix package manager to get home manager working. You don’t have to use it to install all of your software, but it will still need a /nix and a system daemon for home manager as far as I know.

nix doesn’t play well with container environments

I’m not sure what this means. What specific things are you trying to do with containers and nix?

If you don’t want to install a bug, complicated piece of software just to manage dotfiles, maybe you could consider Ansible? I know some sysadmin types who keep their local machine configs in Ansible. It has some nice bonus features, like deployment over ssh (nix can do this too btw).

I totally agree. The real problem for Linux gaming tho is that games are almost always distributed as compuled binaries, but Linux is built around open source. It you had a model where you paid for the source code of a game, and then it got compiled for your machine right when you downloaded, Linux gaming would probably work great. You’d have better fps too. (I actually really like this idea, somebody like GOG should make a client that does this).

As a big Linux fan, it makes me said that Wine needs to exist. But, maybe it’s not such a bad thing. Linux is just a kernel, with no associated libraries for app developers. App devs don’t want to manually write system calls, so it’s always been the case thar they lick and choose which set of libraries to target for their Linux apps. A popular low level choice is the GNU standard C library, and a popular high level choice is the GTK/GDK/Gnome stack. But these aren’t the only choices. I mean you can use the MUSL standard C library if you want. You can choose between OpenGL, Vulkan, and WGPU for graphics already.

I see Wine and Proton as just being another set of standard apis to target. Maybe they don’t have the best design, but is traditional Unix really the best design either? Now the Valve and company are supporting Wine, it’s one of the Linux targets with the most actual developers. And of course it has a huge advantage over the glibc + Vulkan stuff: it retains binary compatibility forever.

you’ll need a special Xorg implementation

Ok it’s true that op would need XWayland for some things, but that will be installed alongside the rest of the Wayland packages, and will run seamlessly.

Most applications are specific to your Wayland implementation

This isn’t true. Some applications will use features that aren’t available in all Wayland compositors, but they are rare. The main offenders are apps that interact with other apps, apps that take screenshots or record, or apps that draw outside of a window (like docks).

This is not possible. A socks proxy forwards tcp connections over another TCP connection. A wireguard vpn sends encrypted generic IP packets over udp. A socks proxy can’t understand the types of things wireguard sends.

However, you could just install wireguard on both your vps and your phone, and you probably wouldn’t even need the proxy. If your VPS is hosted by a big public cloud provider, be aware that many sites restrict incoming traffic from known up ranges because public cloud vms often used by spammers.

asked if I knew anything about computers

lol you got profiled. nice that you could help her tho

Suburban car culture. People can go on and on about the how they like driving, and like the freedom to drive everywhere, even if it makes them fat and lonely. But what about their kids? It’s insane that kids are essentially trapped at home unless a parent happens to have the ability to drive that somewhere. Your convenient lifestyle comes at the cost of raising neurotic introverts who won’t go outside.

Is that conky? I didn’t realize that worked on Wayland.

Skill issue, I finished a CS degree with vim

Ok probably your best option is a used Thinkpad, or maybe a Chromebook with the Chromebook distro, but if you want to do something crazy you could try the Pinebook Pro. It’s a 14" arm laptop that comes with debian for $220. You might need some accessories, but it would still be <$400 for something new and interesting. However, it’s a bit slow, and arm doesn’t have as much software support. I think it could do everything a CS student needs, except browsing may be slow because web apps are so absurdly big and complicated now. Definitely would get more than 5 hours of battery.

https://www.pine64.org/pinebook-pro/

It creates a flat network between all of your devices anywhere, so if you have a home server that you want to connect to from elsewhere you can do that without port forwards.

It boosts faster tho, so for average usage it might be fine. It just will have trouble with anything that requires sustained use, which for me would probably just be compiling code or games, things I wouldn’t try to do on a tablet.

What’s your use case? Maybe you would be better off with Tailscale or something like that

That’s an incredible price for 16gb of memory and a 512 ssd. Would be an upgrade from my 14" laptop. I just hope I don’t have to wait multiple years to get it.

Yes, it will get better over time. You are using an entirely new operating system. Things are different, but aren’t that hard to learn.

My big tip for installing Linux is to use the package managers when possible. Every distro comes with at least one package manager, which can install many pieces of software. On Ubuntu, there are two: snap and apt. (Yes, this is confusing. Canonical is trying to change the way they package software, and it has made their distro harder to use).

Also, what kind of software are you installing that requires different permissions or ports? If you’re trying to set up servers you many be better off with a different approach.

Worse.

I have this hazy, memory from when I was about 8. I was exploring a peat bog, which was fun because everything was soft and squishy and I could just run around. I saw some weird looking bushes, and decided to go check them out. But, as I ran up, it turned out there were growing over this sort of wet hole, where maybe there was a spring or something. I suddenly fell about 8 feet, and was in this mud pit slowly sinking. Luckily, I managed to grab some of those bushes I’d seen, and pull myself out. But it was very hard, because the mud was pulling me down like quicksand. Eventually, I crawled back out on the bog, covered in mud.

Nobody I was with remembers this, and honestly it might not be real. Childhood experiences are super weird.

See this, and the whole thread: https://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?p=2301071#p2301071